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Hope everyone had a great weekend. We were thrilled because we found the special issue of Domino: Quick Fixes on newsstands! We may or may not have neglected our homework to read the issue cover to cover. The original Dominio was published from 2005 to 2009 and was the essential guide for home/apartment style. When the magazine folded due to the economic downturn, design fans were disappointed, so for them to release a special issue was big news!

We both enjoyed the special issue, there were some beautiful photographs and typography, but we felt a lot of the “quick fixes” were old tricks. Our favorite article was the “Dress Up Your Desk” roundup. We thought it would be fun to do a quick roundup of our desks.

I have to be honest and tell you that my desk does not always look this pretty. To try and keep myself organized, I keep cute paperclips and binder clips around like the sweet dog bone paperclips above. Some other things I love to have around are plants! My mom has an amazing green thumb and it looks like I am finally starting to get the hang of keeping things alive. I have six different plants in the space near my desk. Another key for organization is my Bound Custom journal. Bound Custom is a great new company located in Durham. Their website allows you to create your own custom journals. Mine is filled with calendar pages, graph paper and wireframing templates.

These items are a few of my favorite desk essentials. I use the adorable dog markers to tag items on my calendar or pages in my A Book Apart books. If you are a web designer or are at all interested in web design, get these books now. I never thought a book on HTML5 would be interesting, but this series is well written and packed full of knowledge. Notice Alison has them on her desk too. Lastly, I love my white lacquer West Elm catchall tray. It helps keep my desk organized and stylish.

Spring is in full swing and I have been looking for some fun home accessories to brighten things up. Alison and I are loving stag ferns ever since we spotted them in Chicago. Mounting them on the wall is such a whimsical design solution and I would love to order one for my apartment. Another fun whimsical piece is Z Gallerie’s faux coral. I love the coral in the aqua color and I’m pretty sure I know the perfect spot for it in my home! A Jonathan Adler grapefruit scented candle can be the perfect finishing touch to a spring home decor makeover with its light crisp scent.

For this DIY I drew inspiration from Hrrrthrrr’s DIY heart tote and these cute polka dot pillowcases found on Oh Joy’s blog.

Materials

Pillowcase

Freezer paper

Hole punch or exacto knife – I used Martha Stewart’s “Punch Around the Page” punch

Iron

Fabric paint

Foam paint brush

Cardboard or brown paper bag

Punch or cut holes in a random pattern on a piece of freezer paper that is the same size as your pillowcase. Then iron the freezer paper onto the pillowcase, shiny side down.

Next, brush the fabric paint onto the pillowcase. (Place the cardboard or paper bag inside the pillowcase so the paint doesn’t bleed through.) I used Hrrrthrrr’s advice and painted from the edge inwards, as not to push paint under the stencil. Follow the directions on the paint for drying time and washing instructions.

Voila! You have cute pillowcases for under $10. I love the ones from Castle, but since I’m in grad school and don’t have any extra cash, I wanted to figure out a way to get the same look for less. Here’s to graduating in May and getting a paycheck again!

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Unless otherwise noted, all graphics and photography are created by Katie Williamsen for Twin Stripe. Feel free to share the content from this site, but please credit properly and link back to the original post.

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